Tata Vistana hotel @ 9am
My very happy mommy!!
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Reached The Snake temple @ 10am
The Snake Temple has renovated nicely for the tourists...
I heard from many saying that The Snake Temple has fewer snakes these days, & prior to reaching, I still carried the visual of my 19-years-ago’s visit.
Surprisingly, it’s no longer looking old, dark, or anytime might collapse.
One thing I don’t quite get is, okie, 2 things :
1) The photography session with snakes;
2) The snake exhibition.
The “snake” theme is definitely there, but are they being misused?
“The temple was built circa 1850 in memory of Chor Soo Kong, a Buddhist monk from Fujian, China, who moved to Penang. Chor Soo Kong was born with the Tan surname in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). He was very serious about spiritual attainment and was ordained at a young age. Legend has it that Chor Soo Kong, who was also a healer, gave shelter to the snakes of jungle. When he died at the age of 65 after a lifetime of good deeds, he was bestowed the honorific title Chor Soo, meaning an eminent historic figure continuously revered by a community generation after generation.”
Sadly, some snakes there are simply…
1) Being a slave to be photographed with tourists, for money;
2) Being showcased daily, for money.
Is this what Chor Soo Kong foreseeing? I bet his rare ability to heal people back then was a gift to FREE people from illnesses, & giving shelter to the snakes of jungle doesn’t mean they were being captured & caged, they were probably FREE to go whenever they feel like it.
1)Do they keep the money solely for temple maintenance?
2) If not, how much extra they’ve made out of these?
3) And when are they going to stop hassling these snakes?
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Reached Wat Chayamangkalaram, Thai Buddhist temple @ 11am
[After a few wrong turns, finally we were there!!]
In front of Wat Chayamangkalaram & posing with the reclining Buddha.
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Right across the street is the Burmese Buddhist temple.
Not forgetting to have fun @ Burmese Buddhist temple...
Sonu was fascinated reading about how Buddhism spread to Southeast Asia, & how it’s linked to Hinduism.
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Wish to spend more time @ Kek Lok Si, feeling the serenity..
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Spotted a few hawker stalls near the Penang Hill’s roundabout exit.
Duck noodle with pathetic number of duck meat slices & fruit rojak before we leave Penang...
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Love papa's idea to take the ferry instead of the bridge...
Our jaws dropped at the price we paid, it was RM1.30/vehicle.
I’m confused as the price should be RM7.70/vehicle.
[Anyways… it was a good ride, especially knowing papa must be reminiscing his good “young’ time working in Penang island.]
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Left Butterworth @ 6pm
Highway was crowded but still moving smoothly, until we’ve passed Taping Zoo exit.
That’s when the nightmare has begun.
We were stuck in the crawling [& stopping] jam for 4 hours.
Mom asked to stop at the next rest stop, it was 5km away.
We were confident that we won’t take too long to reach there despite the crawling, jokingly papa & I were saying maybe mom has to start thinking about other options if we couldn’t reach there on time.
!!For crying out loud!!
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We reached Sg. Perak rest stop @ 10:47pm
It took about an hour for the 5km crawl.
[NO KIDDING]
And we have to suck it up as we found out it’s all because of the jam in this particular rest stop that causing the 2-lane highway super duper long crawl.
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Left Sg. Perak rest stop @ 12am
{After we downed the burgers, fried rice, Nescafe, Redbull!!}
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Thank goodness, unbelievable smooth traffic.
Reached home @ 2am
[Without speeding recklessly, thanks Sonu ♥ ]
An expired challenge from the past me to the new future me. 